GK & Current Affairs – October 10, 2015

Flute Dr. Natesan Ramani commonly known as N. Ramani or N. Flute Ramani, was an eminent Indian Carnatic flautist. Born in Tiruvarur in 1934, the birthplace of Carnatic Trinity Thyagaraja, Muthusamy Dikshitar and Shyama Shastry — Ramani had his early lessons from his maternal grandfather Azhiyur Narayanasami Iyer. Ramani’s mother Saradambal was also well-versed in music and it was she who wanted to mould him like T.R. Mahalingam alias Mali, who was a relative. Ramani was also the winner of the Sangita Kalanidhi award of the Music Academy. Ramani is also credited for introducing the long flute into Carnatic music.

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Who has been appointed as chairman of Atomic Energy Commission? [A]Das Gupta [B]Sekhar Basu [C]RK Sinha [D]Kumar Sinha

Sekhar Basu The renowned scientist, Dr. Sekhar Basu has been appointed as the chairman of Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and Secretary of Department of Atomic Energy (DAE). Currently, Mr. Basu is the director of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) and chief executive of the Nuclear Recycle Board (NRB). He will replace Mr. RK Sinha who superannuates on October 23 and he will have a tenure till September 19, 2016 i.e. Till he attains the age of 64 years.

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The National Dialogue Quartet (NDQ) of which country won the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize? [A]Uganda [B]Belarus [C]Tunisia [D]Ireland

Tunisia The Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet (NDQ) won prestigious 2015 Nobel Peace Prize for helping the country’s transition to democracy. It has been selected for its decisive contribution in building pluralistic democracy in Tunisia in the wake of the 2011 Jasmine Revolution. The Quartet is credited with creating a national dialogue between the country’s Islamist and secular coalition parties amid deepening political and economic crisis in 2013. It was established in 2013 as an alternative, peaceful political process at a time when Tunisia was on the brink of civil war aftermath of revolution.

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India’s first Dolphin reserve community will come up in which state? [A]Odisha [B]Andhra Pradesh [C]West Bengal [D]Kerala

West Bengal India’s first Dolphin reserve community reserve to protect the endangered Gangetic river dolphins will come up in West Bengal. The reserve will be set up in the Hooghly river. The methodology to develop the community reserve is being chalked out by a separate committee. The committee will take a decision based on inputs from all stakeholders since it’s a community reserve.

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Exercise HAND-IN-HAND 2015 will be conducted in which province of China? [A]Hainan [B]Shandong [C]Yunnan [D]Guangdong

Yunnan The India-China Joint Military Training Exercise HAND-IN-HAND 2015 will be conducted at Kunming Military Academy of Yunnan province in China from October 12 to 23, 2015. It will be the fifth joint military exercise in the Hand-in-Hand series between armies of both countries which had started in 2007.

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In which country the Vulnerable 20 (V20) countries meeting held recently? [A]India [B]Peru [C]Vietnam [D]Bangladesh

Peru The Vulnerable Twenty (V20) finance ministers inaugural meeting held at Lima, Peru. In it all the V20 members agreed to study the creation of a sovereign V20 Climate Risk Pooling Mechanism to distribute economic and financial risks, improve recovery after climate-induced weather disasters and enhance the security of jobs, livelihoods, businesses and investors. The V20 is a bloc consists of countries most threatened by climate change including’s members are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Barbados, Bhutan, Costa Rica, East Timor, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Kiribati, Madagascar, the Maldives, Nepal, the Philippines, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Tanzania, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Vietnam.

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Recently, the Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) of the Directors General/Commissioners of Customs conducted in which state of India? [A]Goa [B]UP [C]New Delhi [D]Maharashtra

Goa The 11th Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) of the Directors General/Commissioners of Customs at Dona Paula concluded with the signing of Goa Declaration. The purpose of the two-day conference was to identify areas of concern for customs administrations and sharing of best practices, sharing of intelligence to strengthen the enforcement activities of the countries participating in the conference and signing of declaration between India and Korea.

Sochi The first-ever BRICS Ministerial meeting on Migration recently held in Sochi, Russia. In it, the BRICS nations viz. Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa have decided to allow free movement of “skilled professionals” among member countries by setting up a liberalised visa regime. Also, issued a Joint Declaration to ensure orderly and legal migration amongst member nations and respect human rights.

RIDF The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has sanctioned a loan of Rs. 2,112.34 crore under the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) – XXI to the Government of Gujarat for two irrigation projects.The funds will be utilised for improving the irrigation potential of the reservoirs in the water scarce region of Saurashtra.